{"id":16139,"date":"2026-08-28T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=16139"},"modified":"2026-08-28T14:29:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T18:29:15","slug":"late-blooming-swamp-azalea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2026\/08\/28\/late-blooming-swamp-azalea\/","title":{"rendered":"Late Blooming Swamp Azalea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Native to the southern and eastern U.S., swamp azalea (Rhododendron viscosum<\/em>) is a deciduous shrub in the Ericaceae (blueberry) family. This shrub generally grows 3 – 8 feet tall and nearly as wide. It is a spreading shrub that spreads slowly via underground stolons and is most at home in a moist humus-rich soil that is moderately drained. Swamp azalea prefers part shade and will tolerate morning sun. Direct afternoon sun will likely scorch leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This shrub has very fragrant, sticky, white (occasionally pale yellow) tubular flowers. It is indigenous to swamps, bogs, stream margins, and wet lowlands from southwestern Maine to northeastern Ohio south to Florida and Alabama. Flowers bloom from May to July which attract hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Swamp azalea (Rhododendron viscosum<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Their sweet, clove-like scented, sticky, white fluted flowers are wonderful from May to July and attract hummingbirds, native bees, and other pollinators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In naturalized\u00a0landscapes pay careful attention to its growing requirements. Its fall foliage colors are variable \u2014 yellow, burning orange, red, and burgundy. The shrub spreads by stolons to form dense, colony-forming thickets that provide excellent cover and nesting habitat for wildlife. Include swamp azalea as a specimen in a native garden or an understory shrub in woodland planting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Se<\/strong>vera<\/strong>l native azaleas, including swamp azaleas, are susceptible to Phytophthora root rot\u2014this leads to leaf loss, reduced vigor, branch dieback, and wilting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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R. viscosum<\/em> ‘Lemon Drop’ – fragrant pale-yellow flowers in early summer & glossy green leaves turn dark pink-red and yellow in fall (Weston Nurseries, Hopkinton, MA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Avoid planting near roots of a black walnut or butternut tree which produce toxic juglones that typically damage or kill rhododendrons\/azaleas growing within or close to the tree drip line. It is best sited in a location away from strong winter winds. This shrub has a shallow, fibrous root system (do not cultivate around the shrub); instead, mulch with wood chips, bark or pine needles) for moisture retention, cooling soil temperatures, and winter protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wonderful native azaleas are available from e-commerce nurseries. Best time to shop for them is in late winter and early spring. In Tennessee, East Fork Nursery (Sevierville), Beaver Creek Nursery (Bybee), and Gro-Wild Nursery (Fairview) are excellent sources. Add Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, NC, Carolina Native Nursery in Bernsville, NC, Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton, MA, and Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden, CT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Native to the southern and eastern U.S., swamp azalea (Rhododendron viscosum) is a deciduous shrub in the Ericaceae (blueberry) family. This shrub generally grows 3 – 8 feet tall and nearly as wide. It is a spreading shrub that spreads slowly via underground stolons and is most at home in a moist humus-rich soil that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,657,1218,711,1319,1137,605,1498,778,645,1012,745,853,551,627,1476,1518,843,1059,729,777,630,705,706,1681,7,113],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16139"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16139"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16151,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16139\/revisions\/16151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}